1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer that performs printing on a long recording medium and that cuts at a prescribed position, the recording medium having undergone printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
One conventional printer prints on a long recording medium, based on received instruction information from an external device and cuts the recording medium printed with given information, at a position that is further downstream in a conveyance direction of the recording medium than a print position of printing on the recording medium. Such a printer cuts the recording medium in a state where conveyance of the recording medium is suspended.
With such a printer, when printing is suspended in response to suspension of the conveyance of the recording medium, a difference in print quality may arise before and after a position of suspension of printing or a minute shift between adjacent dots may arise, leading to a deterioration of print quality. For this reason, single character data, continuous image data, etc. are usually printed continuously without suspending printing in the midst of a printing cycle.
For example, a printer used at a retail store, etc. for primarily printing out receipts may print preliminarily specified data, such as a store logo, on the header of a recording medium (portion near the end cut at the previous printing). When the size of the specified data in the conveyance direction of the recording medium is larger than the size of a space between a print position and the cutting position in the conveyance direction and if the next printing is started right after the end of the previous printing during continuous printing based on command information, suspension of the conveyance of the recording medium to cut the recording medium carrying information printed at the previous printing suspends the subsequent printing in the midst of the printing cycle. Consequently, the quality of the subsequent printing deteriorates as described above.
On the other hand, if the subsequent printing is started from a point at which the recording medium subjected to the previous printing has been conveyed to the cutting position, a unnecessary blank is created on the recording medium. The blank has a size equivalent to the size of the space between the print position and the cutting position, resulting in accelerated consumption of the recording medium. By reducing the size of the specified data in the conveyance direction of the recording medium to a size smaller than the size of the space between the print position and the cutting position in the conveyance direction, the consumption of the recording medium consequent to an unnecessary blank can be suppressed without deteriorating print quality. In such a case, however, the size of the specified data is limited, or, conversely, the size of the printer is increased in adjustment to the size of the specified data.
According to a conventional technique for solving these problems, for example, a printer prints specified data on the head of the next printing. The specified data has a size, in a conveyance direction of the recording medium, larger than the size of a space between a print position and a cutting position in the conveyance direction. The printer operates in such a way that the printer prints the specified data on the head of the next printing ensuing the previous printing, conveys the recording medium in a direction reverse to the print direction, cuts the recording medium at the boundary position between the previous printing and the next printing, and then conveys the recording medium forward by a distance equal to a distance by which the recording medium has been conveyed in the reverse direction, to print data subsequent to the already printed specified data (see, e.g., Japanese Patent No. 3624372).
Another conventional technique is known, according to which, for example, when not receiving instruction information concerning the next printing before the elapse of a prescribed period from the end of the previous printing, a printer conveys the recording medium until the part carrying printed information passes a cutting position, cuts the recording medium, and then conveys an unprinted part of the recording medium to a print position in the reverse direction, and when receiving instruction information concerning the next printing instruction before the elapse of the prescribed period, successively performs the next printing following the previous printing and cuts the recording medium when the previous printing reaches the cutting position (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-301255).
Still another technique is known, according to which, for example, a printer that prints specified data on the head of the next printing operates in such a way that the printer cuts the recording medium following the end of the previous printing, receives instruction information concerning the next printing instruction, and then conveys the recording medium in a reverse direction at a point of time before the start of printing according to the instruction information (see, e.g., Japanese Patent No. 3840992).
However, according to the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent No. 3624372, because the specified data for the next printing is printed continuously after the recording medium passes the cutting position following the end of the previous printing, when the size of the specified data in the conveyance direction of the recording medium is larger than the size of the space between the print position and the cutting position in the conveyance direction, the recording medium is passed through the cutting position and ejected out of the printer because of the end of the previous printing of the specified data is conveyed in the reverse direction at the completion of printing of the specified data until a cutting location of the recording medium matches the cutting position of the printer.
The conventional technique described in Japanese Patent No. 3624372 thus has a problem in that when an operator, etc. misjudges the completion of printing and carelessly pulls the recording medium out of the printer in the midst of the printing process, trouble may occur, which includes a shift of the actual cutting position from the original cutting position (cutting location) and printing in a disordered form.
According to the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-301255, when instruction information concerning the next printing instruction is received before the elapse of prescribed period from the end of the previous printing, the next printing is executed successively following the previous printing and the recording medium is cut when the previous printing reaches the cutting position. This means that the recording medium is cut in the middle of the next printing, which poses a problem in that securing print quality is difficult when continuous printing is performed.
According to the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent No. 3840992, after the receipt of instruction information concerning the next printing instruction, the recording medium is conveyed in the reverse direction at a point of time before the start of printing according to the instruction information. In the case of a printer that partially cuts the recording medium leaving a part thereof left uncut, for example, if the timing at which the instruction information concerning the next printing instruction is received is improper, the next recording medium is conveyed in the reverse direction although the recording medium subjected to the previous printing has not been removed yet, causing a problem in that the previously produced printed item may bend in an undesirable manner, damaging the appearance thereof.